


An Assortment of Valentines

by kirschhhstein



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Multi, relationship tags and rating will increase depending on whether i move past the first chapter or not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2015-02-09
Packaged: 2018-03-08 15:57:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3214994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirschhhstein/pseuds/kirschhhstein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>some shingeki no valentine drabbles for my favourite snk pairings in the lead up to valentine's day 2015. entirely self-indulgent, mostly fluff with maybe a dash of angst if i can work up the courage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Assortment of Valentines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some shingeki no valentine drabbles for my favourite snk pairings in the lead up to valentine's day 2015. entirely self-indulgent, mostly fluff with maybe a dash of angst if i can work up the courage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled 'a note to armin arlert'  
> (i'm kidding, this is in no way a sequel to 'notes to jean kirschstein' but the title fits)
> 
> jean/armin first! and in canon universe!! and i wouldn't be surprised if this is the last because the others are proving annoyingly hard to finish _(start_ , i actually mean _start)_

Armin doesn't need reminding that Eren sometimes forgets to keep his mouth shut regarding their knowledge of the outside world and its traditions.  He slips up more often than Armin likes to admit.  At worst, they could be marched straight to their Instructor's quarters for interrogation to ensure that this information is harmless - at best, Eren's outburst would be met with disbelieving titters with accompanying eyerolls.  But this particular instance leads to something Armin hadn't expected at all.  And it's one that surely he'll remember.

It's their second year in the 104th training squad - and the bitterly cold February days are just as horrible as last year.  And Armin regrets that the weather prevents him from travelling to the lake on their rare days off to observe the changing environment there.  The highlight of their days tends to be when every cadet is crowded in the dining hall, hunched over lukewarm food and grateful for the mass of bodies that increase their own body temperature.

"So, are you gonna get Hanna something next week?"  Eren asks Franz over a mouthful of rice.  "Since you're like a thing or whatever."

The taller boy blushed beet red and spluttered - an endearing sight really for one his size.  "We're not... Well I - Ehem.  Is something happening next week?"

Mikasa shifts next to Armin, and he glances towards her.  She gazes at him meaningfully, tilting her head towards Eren who's busy swallowing his mouthful before he can reply.

"Mikasa?"  Armin murmurs in question.  He doesn't understand what her raised eyebrows are trying to imply.

"Isn't this maybe something we ought to keep to ourselves?"

Frowning, Armin plays Eren's words again in his head.  Next week?  Franz should be looking into getting something for Hanna, his not-so-secret sweetheart? -

Oh.  Oh no, that's not - that could - no.

"You know,"  Eren grins slyly, nudging Franz's arm with his elbow.  "It's V-"

Armin coughs politely and Eren stops to glance at him.

"You alright?"

 _"Yes."_ Armin says, widening his eyes slightly and shaking his head almost imperceptibly.  Eren just looks baffled.

"You're... alright."He says uncertainly and Armin swallows.

Then when Eren grunts and jerks in his seat, he's quite sure Mikasa just delivered a swift kick to his shin.  He only stares back at her, a look of demanding confusion on his face.  Mikasa only presses a finger to her lips in a not-so-subtle gesture, and their fellow cadets watch this exchange with mild interest.  It's nothing they're unused to seeing, and Armin hopes they can get away with those aforementioned titters and eyerolls.

But no, of course they can't.

"Next week, Eren - what's going on?"  Franz presses.  "It's - It's not Hanna's birthday or anything is it?"

"Wha-?"  Eren blinks at him as though just remembering he's there.  "Oh, no - well I dunno.  But it's Valentine's day, ri-"

Not quite in time, Armin forcibly erupts himself into a violent coughing fit.  It's loud and embarrassing as he realises that he's now attracted the stares of cadets at further away tables.  He's actually coughing for real now and struggles to breathe.  He only prays that Jean isn't one of the ones catching sight of his reddening face.

"Jeez, Armin - are you sure you're okay?"  Eren exclaims which Mikasa punctuates with an unhelpful hard thump on Armin's back.

He chokes out a "yes", ignoring the mix of disdainful scoffs and concerned mutters around him.  Better his embarrassing outburst be the most memorable thing about this evening than Eren's declarations about a holiday devoted to romance.

But before Eren can finish expressing his worry about Armin developing a cold, Franz leans forward and questions him about 'Valentine's day' - apparently not deterred in the slightest by Armin's near-death experience.  And Armin's not recovered enough from his impromptu fit to interrupt again.  Nor does Mikasa seem to think it's worth the effort herself.

"You guys don't know?" Eren seems surprised, but not excited to explain.  "It's like this day every year where people confess to the one they like and buy them presents and... there are flying babies or something?  oh man, Armin you explain it.  It sounds better when you talk about it."

Armin's face burns as many others turn to look at him in interest.  He clears his throat and determinedly doesn't look anywhere near the direction of grey-brown eyes staring so intently at him.  He knows that if he protests, the others will grow more bent on prying the information out of him.  So he resolves to simplify it as much as possible.

"Well... It's said there was once a saint called Valentine who was persecuted by the Romans for -"

"What's a Roman?"  Somebody quips and Eren shushes them in annoyance.

"No, it's alright Eren.  The Romans were people who built a powerful empire and ruled over a lot of... land.  They were intelligent, fierce and...  But it's not really important to the story."  Armin explains quickly, not sure how much to divulge.  After all, he has only his memories of his grandfather's books to rely on and he's well aware of how much trouble he'd be in if certain authorities found out about them.  "Anyway, apparently Valentine was persecuted by the Romans for being a... because he was performing weddings in secret for soldiers and... and such."

"Was that such a terrible thing?  Did the Romans disapprove of marriage so much?"  Marco asks from a table over and Armin glances at him only to regret it.  He meets Jean's eyes for a moment and looks away quickly.

"In those days, married men were thought to make bad soldiers."  He said quietly to his empty plate.  "Especially the ones that - that wanted to marry other men."

There's some surprised muttering before Eren flaps his hands impatiently and calls for silence again - claiming that the story isn't over yet.  He then motions for Armin to continue.

"But they caught Valentine and threw him in jail to be executed the next morning for his crimes.  But that night he was approached by the daughter of his jailer - she had brought him food and company on his last night to enjoy.  They fell in love that night, only able to see and touch each other through the bars of his cell.  Well, he could see - it's said the jailer's daughter was blind.  She wanted to beg her father to help Valentine escape - but the saint wouldn't let her because he knew it would only end in both of their deaths.  He said he would try to work a miracle, and asked her to leave him.  She did, and slept through the remainder of the night.  When she woke, she could see.  It must've been the miracle Valentine spoke of.  Though when she ran to his jail cell, he had already been taken to be executed.  He'd left her a letter proclaiming his love for her, and signed it 'Your Valentine'.  It was all she had of him."

Armin takes a breath and dares to glance up, startled when he's met with awed silence and even a few teary gazes.

"Oh, that's so sad."  Mina breathes.  "She didn't even get to see him."

"Hold on,"  Connie frowns in confusion.  "If she was blind before... how could she read the letter he left her?  It makes no sense."

He's then met with several hushes before Armin speaks up again with a shrug.  "Perhaps she wasn't always blind.  Or she had another read it to her.  It's hardly the focal point of the story."

"But Eren said there's a day next week devoted to him?  Something about flying babies?"

Armin wearily tells Connie to ignore the cherubs, and explains the relevance of the love letter instead.  That it introduced a tradition of lovers exchanging what became known as 'Valentines' on the date of February 14th - and of secret admirers sending anonymous cards to their beloved.  It was a day to express love and gratitude - in one way or another.

Before Armin can even finish - the growing murmurs turn into sudden outbursts of excitement.  There are shrill giggles, nervous flirting and cocky declarations of being the one to receive the most valentines this year.  Exactly the kind of atmosphere Armin had wanted to avoid.

He sighs, and wonders if he can slip away quietly before Marco's voice startles him into stillness.

"You've been pretty quiet, Jean.  What do you think about all of this?"

Armin holds his breath as he risks a glance in their direction.  He manages not to react when his eyes met Jean's yet  _again_ until the other boy looks away with a scoff.  "Not interested."

Desperately hoping neither his face nor his movements betray the sharp pain in his chest, Armin pushes past a sighing Mikasa and makes his way to the barracks alone.

The bubbling atmosphere only grows worse as the 14th approaches.  Crumpled notes are exchanged, whispers and giggles are abundant, and almost every cadet disappears into town to shop on their weekend off.  And yes, Franz freaks himself out silly over what to do for Hanna.

Armin finds himself bombarded with questions about suitable gifts and he tiredly suggests what he knows to be traditional - bouquet, poetry, food.  It's as though everyone has suddenly decided to be act like silly teenagers instead of the soldiers they are training to be.  Armin supposes it might not be all that bad.  Certainly everyone seems far more cheerful despite the damp weather and their Instructors' increased annoyance with them - and Armin even catches himself smiling when Sasha mockingly serenades Mikasa atop a tree branch.  And again later when Mikasa splits her loaf with the other girl.

When the weekend before arrives and most of their number scurries into town, Armin begs Eren for some time alone today to rid him of his constant headache.  As amusing as his fellows cadets are acting, it is an exhausting atmosphere - not even factoring in Armin's personal upset with his own silly valentine hopes.

He takes the chance of peace to travel to the lake a few miles outside their camp, several books in his pack and a water bottle in hand.  The ground is still wet and his boots squelch in the muck but Armin's happy just to do as he likes for once.  He finds an almost dry rock to sit on at the foot of a tree, leaning back against the damp bark until it catches in his hair and he pulls away to check the trunk.

Initials are engraved in the tree, and a wonky heart surrounds them.  It's almost sweet.  Almost.

"Vandals."  Armin mutters to himself.  Not as bitterly as he feels.

"You're the one that stirred them up."

Armin turns to see Jean striding towards him, smirk in place as he stands directly in front of him and crosses his arms at the display.

"Reluctantly, if you'll remember."  Armin says wryly.  "What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Ahh, I... "  Jean looks sheepish, clearing his throat and looking away.  Armin can't help the small smile that upturns his lips as he recalls a certain team camping expedition into the forest a few months back.  Said team led astray and off course for over an hour under the direction of their charmingly stubborn leader.

"You wouldn't happen to have gotten lost, would you?"

Jean only shakes his head, heaving a great sigh.  "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Mm, probably not."  Armin says, and dares to gesture towards the space next to him on the rock.  To his surprise (and secret glee) Jean takes the seat, wriggling a little and complaining about the edges digging into his behind.

"You must just have a bony bottom."  Armin says absent-mindedly, then stiffens as he realises what he just said.  But Jean laughs it off and Armin finds himself wanting to kiss him.

They sit for a while - Jean skimming rocks against the lake as Armin reads aloud passages from one of the books he brought.  Back in Shiganshina, Armin had often been gifted blank books as well as printed ones to write his own words in.  Unbeknownst to his grandfather and friends, Armin had written down many of his favourite passages from the history books into his own - woven them in between his own paragraphs of observations and daily life.  He reads them now - a brief history about the building of the Roman Empire, the fall of Troy, and of course the appearance of the Titans.

He scoots away from Jean to give him more room for his throwing arm - and feeling guilty for enjoying the occasional press of their knees.  In fact, he feels so bad he's about an inch away from falling into the mud.  If he gives anything away in his posture, Jean doesn't comment - either not noticing or pretending not to.

Though Armin has to wonder why Jean chooses to remain with him here on their rare weekend off instead of gallivanting around town with the others.  His heart clenches a little when he remembers Jean's disregard for the whole Valentine charade, but still thinks that Jean could probably spend his time a little better than here with him.

Before he can ask, Jean speaks up with a question Armin was hoping to avoid.

"You don't really buy into all this Valentine rubbish do you?"  He asks, looking at Armin in a way that makes him think he's searching for something.  "I mean, I know you're the one that told us about it - but it seemed like you thought it was a bit daft."

Armin tries to think carefully before answering.

"It's not really something I've thought about that much.  I doubt it's something I'm ever going to get excited about."  He says truthfully, moving to cross his legs and wobbling.  Jean grasps his arm and steadies him before he can topple.  "O-oh um, thank you."  He continues after his embarrassing display of a lack of balance.  Suddenly his thigh is pressed against Jean's and he's struggling not to get very flustered about that fact.  But Jean doesn't say anything, and merely nods his head as though urging him to continue.  "I've nothing against the premise though.  I think it's nice that others are happy for the opportunity to show how much they love someone - even if it can get a bit corny."

"Corny?"

"Embarrassing.  Overly lovey-dovey."  Armin clarifies and Jean nods, disgust clear on his face.  "And that's not to say I wouldn't appreciate some... attention, I suppose."

He flushes a little as Jean raises an eyebrow at him, smiling faintly.  "Oh?  Do you have anyone in mind you'd prefer to show their  _appreciation_ for you?"

"Not particularly.  I just meant hypothetically."  Armin says quickly, not missing the slip of Jean's barely-there smile.

"Fair enough.  Attention's nice, I guess."  He grunts, and Armin can't help but snort in amusement.

"Oh, I knew you'd say something like that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

 _"Nuh-thing."_ Armin says in a sing-song voice, laughing at little when Jean scowls at him.

"I'll have you know that I have many assets that deserve recognition and admiration."

"Oh really?"  Armin delights in teasing him further, and dares to tilt his head and smile slyly.  "Do tell."

"Well, we've already spoken about my bony arse so that's one."  Jean pauses with a grin as Armin giggles before continuing.  "I have excellent hand-to-hand combat skills.  My 3DMG moves rival only the best.  And -"  He presents his arm with a smirk, his fist clenched.  "Second only to Reiner.  Or maybe Mikasa."

Armin hesitates before allowing himself to place hand on Jean's flexed bicep.  He ignores the dryness of his mouth and the insistent hammering of his heart as he feels the large muscle and quickly withdraws.  "Yes, alright.  Very nice.  But considering we're all soldiers and all of those other than your bony behind are kind of a given, I'm not very impressed."  He lies.  About the being unimpressed part.  Because wow, is he working hard to restrain himself from touching that arm again.

"Hmph.  Alright then - I'll break out the big guns."  Jean mutters, then grins briefly at his pun as Armin blushes again.  "I can draw."

"Anyone with the barest materials can draw."

"Yeah okay, but I can draw  _well._ Ish."

Pretending to be doubtful only to tease him, Armin soon presents Jean with an empty page of his book and gives him permission to thoroughly impress him.  Jean obliges with an uncharacteristic and rather lovely sketch of the view in front of them.  The afternoon passes like that - pleasantly with a lot of teasing and unnecessary brushing of limbs.  And the entire time Armin cannot will his mind nor body into calming down.

Despite his internal excitement and external jumpiness, Armin falls quiet as Jean finishes the last of the several pages Armin's allowed him to fill.  Jean explains that his aunt ran a flower stall in his home town, and that he'd spent many an afternoon grumpily 'helping out' there.  But really that just meant using his 'boyish charm' to attract customers and retreating to his sketchbook whenever there was a lull in business.

"Honestly, I don't know anything about the bloody plants but if there's one thing I got good at it was drawing them.  So, what do you think?  Am I deserving of some admiration?"

"Hm... worthy of a valentine I dare say."  Armin says quiet, smiling a little and tracing his fingertips against the drawing of a rather spectacular rose bouquet.

There's no love confession after that - no declaration of all-consuming feelings or kisses or embraces.  But Armin finds that he's okay with it.  If he's being honest with himself, today has been more than he'd ever dared to dream and the memory of this afternoon with Jean is better than any valentine he could ever receive.

The days until the 14th pass quickly, as Armin spends most of his spare time reliving the afternoon by the lake in his mind.  He doesn't alter any detail, or embellish anything of what transpired - he's more than content to remember exactly as it was.  In fact, he's so far gone and dreaming that he barely even acknowledges that it's Valentine's day when it arrives.  It passes in a blur anyway - a haze of cheap flowers and poetry readings over breakfast and Shadis screaming at one of the cadets for attempting to 'sky-write' their confession with 3DMG.

"Hey, Armin - what's that?"

"What's what?"  Whirling around, Armin looks to where Eren's pointing.  A flash of yellow pokes out from under Armin's thin blanket.  They've come back from dinner a little early today to escape the headache of Sasha's singing again.

Curious - and more than a little confused - Armin pulls back the sheet and blinks at a collection of slightly crushed flowers lying underneath.  The stems are too short, the petals are askew, and it's clear they've been plucked over several hours ago.

"Water primroses?"  Eren questions as he and Mikasa peek over Armin's shoulder.  Armin's not surprised that his friend recognised the plant - too astonished that he had found them in his bed.  "They're kinda sad looking."

Armin secretly agrees as he takes the flowers in his hands to straighten the petals.  He doesn't remember leaving these here.  He doesn't remember plucking these pitiful flowers at all - not having had a chance with all the Valentine hoopla going on and the distraction of Jean's company.  Unless he's suffering short-term memory loss; but then what reason would he possibly have for leaving them in his bed?  Any sensible person would have at least found them some water, and there's certainly none to be found under his sheets.

"Weird.  Oh hey, there's a note -"

Armin isn't sure what comes over himself when he desperately grabs at the parchment and snatches it out of Eren's reach.  It's instinctual, and he's embarrassed for no reason at all that he can think of.  Eren looks a little hurt, and Mikasa raises an eyebrow but Armin clutches the note to his chest and gives them a rueful look.

"It's obviously been left for me."  He tells them, clearing his throat a little at the pout of Eren's lips.  "I'll read it first.  And then I'll decide whether I'd like to share it or not."

Eren grumbles a little about sharing being a key aspect of friendship but agrees, falling back on his own assigned bed.  Mikasa looks suspiciously at the paper - like it might burst into flames in Armin's hands and burn him.  But flames or not, he's determined to read whatever this mystery flower person has written him.

Delicately laying the flowers atop his pillow, Armin turns his back on his friends and brings the note close to his face to read.

 

_Roses are red_

_Violets are blue_

_Found these by the lake_

_And thought of you_

 

_Like your hair_

_They're yellow and cute_

_And the blue of your eyes_

_Renders me mute_

 

_One last thing_

_Before this ends_

_We make a great team_

_Can we be friends?_

 

_I don't mean 'just'_

_I'd like to be more_

_But this is embarrassing_

_You'll hate me for sure_

 

_That rhyme was shit_

_What a terrible line_

_Okay last one,_ _I swear_

_Will you be my Valentine?_

 

As Armin reads, he grows increasingly glad his back is turned and that his friends cannot see the rising colour in his cheeks.  He raises a hand to his face and flushes harder at the heat he feels on his palm.  Is this real?  He can scarcely dare to think.  There's an odd bubble of joy in his chest as his entire body warms and he's struck with the strange urge to squeal and roll around on his bed.  And all because of a few weeds under his pillow and some dreadful poetry.

He doesn't even need to conduct a secret investigation into who could have possibly left a Valentine request for himself.  The obvious choice would be Eren - it was not unusual for the two of them to exchange such things.  But the boy seems surprised by the flowers and note, and acting isn't not a particularly polished skill of his.  This type of secretive admiration isn't Mikasa's style either.

By word choice alone, Armin can tell the underlying embarrassment (or rather - the _explicitly stated_ embarrassment) the writer feels.  Then there are five awkward stanzas - it's long and rambley.  And the rhyme scheme changes constantly - suggesting a nervous writer.

The flower choice - anyone from Shiganshina or the villages in the mountains would recognise that the pretty yellow plants were obnoxious weeds.  Not the most romantic of flowers - not the most knowledgeable of poets.

But Armin finds that he doesn't care about the silly flowers or the clumsy words - all he can think about is how he recognises the handwriting.  And that he knows right away who it belongs to.

"What is it, Armin?"  Mikasa asks quietly.  Armin can already imagine her cracking her knuckles and readying herself to take down whoever sent this cruel joke.

Because that is another option.  Perhaps it is meant to be a mean and dreadful prank sent to upset him.  It wouldn't be the first time something like this had happened - cadets do things like this to each other all the time.

But Armin can't even consider it.  He knows the one who wrote him these lines and picked him the flowers is sincere in their gesture.  Call it intuition - and that he believes he knows his admirer really well.

"A valentine."  He says truthfully.  Then he folds and pockets the note, ignoring Eren's strangled sound of surprise.

He demands to see it and Armin refuses.  He doesn't want to embarrass his not-so-secret admirer any further.

"Is it obvious who it's from?"  Mikasa says and Armin answers her yes, it's quite clear.

She "hm"s like she knows already and Eren's flustered trying to get more information.

"Who is it?  Who likes you enough to hide weeds in your bed and write you stuff you won't show me?  Is it something dirty?"

Armin quickly assures him that it's nothing like that - instead it's rather sweet, if a little... corny.

"And I'm not telling you who it's from."  He states firmly, scooping up his flowers and sitting cross-legged on his bed to arrange them in his lap.  "Can you find me something to hold them in?"

An hour or so later, Mikasa reluctantly leaves the boys' barracks as the other cadets fill in.  They're noisy and cheerful - if some a little bummed that apparently they received no valentines.

Armin calmly ignores them all, choosing instead to engage himself in a herbology textbook as he tucks himself into bed.  Eren's already fallen asleep - having worn himself out trying to persuade Armin to show him the poem to no avail.

It's when most of the others have changed and the loud chattering is reduced to murmurs that Armin can't take it anymore.  He allows himself to glance up, his eyes flickering over the top of his book to the bunks in the far left corner.

Jean's still telling those around him the story of Connie's fall at training today.  He's smirking as he describes Connie's yelps, and folds his hands smugly across his chest as the shorter boy protests that they weren't  _that_ high-pitched.

Though Jean must feel eyes on him, when his head suddenly turns and his grey-brown eyes meet Armin's.

The confidence from his expression vanishes, and his shoulders tense as his face and ears flush pink.  Armin can feel his own cheeks warm once more and is immediately grateful for the giant book covering most of his face.  Before he can lose all of his courage, he keeps looking at Jean and gives a timid nod.

The taller boy must understand because the colour in his face darkens and his gaze slides across to the water-filled cup from the cafeteria holding the primroses.  Then, with what looked like a lot of effort, he gulps and nods too before his eyes drop to his feet.  His hands are stuffed in his pocket and there's a smile tinged with smugness playing across his lips.

"I thought about drawing you something."  He whispers later, and Armin can barely see his face through the darkness.  "But I thought it might be too obvious given my remarkable skill."

Armin's trying not to shiver against the cold, but his breath leaves him entirely when Jean notices his chill and gathers him against him.  "It would've taken all the fun out of guessing."  He teases, slipping his hands inside Jean's thin coat for warmth.  It's rather pointless in terms of heating himself up, but he does it all the same for different reasons.

Jean hums in agreement, his grip around Armin's waist tightening.  "And it might've ended up a bit... what was it?  Corny?"

Armin tells him that it was corny either way and the taller boy groans quietly, dropping his head to press his face into Armin's hair.  "Jeez.  I blame you."

"I didn't  _ask_ for a valentine from you."

"Oh please - you were being so adorable that afternoon that I doubt anyone could've  _not_ sent you one.  Even if I wasn't already crazy about you - that day alone would've made sure of it."

"Well, I appreciate the  _attention."_ And Armin's so pleased with himself that he has to stifle his giggles against Jean's shoulder.  He only feels happier at Jean's sighing "Why you..." and closes his eyes.

"Hey,"  He starts softly.  "Can I give you you valentine now?"

"If it doesn't involve spelling _'Jean is hot stuff'_ in the sky, I'm going to be extremely disappointed."  Jean chuckles and Armin pulls back to smile at him.

"Well, I hope this proves to be almost as good then."  He says, and reaches up to kiss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh god, poetry is not my strong suit. then again it's supposed to be embarrassingly bad and corny.
> 
> I twisted the story of saint valentine a bit - cause well, the whole story is made of embellishments anyway. it's fanfiction for crying out loud.
> 
> and i've realise i have no idea what the military's stance on marriage is in shingeki universe - but i took the liberty of assuming it's permitted to marry within and outwith the military. not that that's really relevant here, other than it being the reason behind marco's surprise at valentine's persecution.


End file.
